boehner has said similar things. the administration seems to be open to perhaps tax rates not going up quite as much as they initially proposed but they're still absolutely insistent on those tax rate increases of some size. there's a lot that has to come together in a short period of time in order to get a deal. it's not impossible. but i think the risk of at least temporarily going over this cliff is significant. >> so, zanny minton-beddoughs says it's not a cliff. it's like a blue slope on a ski slope. christine says it's a cliff like a black diamond. >> big black diamond. >> other people have said it's a gentle slope like a sunny day slope down the hill. what is it, do you think? >> the problem is we're going to start going downhill and not know exactly whether it's a blue slope or a double diamond. you don't know exactly what's ahead of you, because we don't know how quickly a deal will come together. that's the problem. if on january 2nd the leadership of the congress and the president say, don't worry. we've g